Mary Fleischauer visits after 37 years away

Regular readers of this blog may remember that last summer, during session 4, Mark Fleischauer and his family visited us. Mark was a counselor and then VC of Outpost here. He grew up in Wisconsin and currently lives in the northwest. His sister Missy worked here too, as did brother Kirk. It was Kirk's death last year that prompted a return; Mark wanted his own kids to see the place where their Uncle Kirk came of age. It was a bittersweet return.

Mark, Missy and Kirk's mom - Mary Fleischauer - was our nurse for a number of years in the 70s and early 80s. She came to FV from Stevens Point, Wisc., with Dr. Bill Hettler. Bill was intensely into the idea of wellness - promoting healthy lifestyles. He hoped that our "infirmary" (stressing the illness) would shift toward a "health center" or "wellness center." The Wellness Revolution at Frost Valley is another story, partly told in other entries over the years here (search for "wellness" in the searchbox at right). Mary shared Bill's focus, and became our nurse, along with the late Joy White. The staff adored Mary. She has always had a tremendous amount of energy, and looked out for us.

Now Mark brought his mom, Mary, back to Frost Valley - after 37 years! She visited the Guenther Family Wellness Center, spent a bunch of time with MAC and STEP and saw some great and moving mainstreaming programs last night. It was a wonderful visit back.